LG’s new phone knows the difference between a dog and a hotdog

LG's Vision AI will be able to detect objects and adjust camera shooting modes for the best image.

LG

LG wants to make your phone smarter, and it's jumping on the AI train to do it.

Ahead of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month, LG announced Monday it will bring artificial intelligence to its smartphone lineup in 2018, starting with this year's version of the LG V30.

Vision AI will bring image recognition to the V30's camera, while the similarly branded Voice AI will add a raft of Google Assistant voice commands to the device.

AI is fast shaping up to be the buzzword of 2018. At CES last month, LG showcased its ThinQ platform (baked into products like kitchen appliances and a Google Assistant-driven speaker) that it says will bring AI smarts to the home. But LG isn't alone. Companies including LG's Korean rival Samsung were busy talking up AI as a way for users to have a seamless smart experience across devices (as long as all your devices are from the one brand of course).

Vision AI

LG says it fed 100 million images into its AI to develop the algorithms for Vision AI. When you point your camera at an object or scene, LG says its AI will automatically analyse the image and recommend the best shooting mode.

Shooting a picture of a hotdog? Vision AI will switch on food mode and give you warmer colours for your photo. Not hotdog? Vision AI has a photo mode for that too.

LG is also promising Vision AI will be able to offer "shopping advice through smart image recognition," though those details are less clear. It says the camera will be able to automatically initiate an image search or "provide shopping options including where to purchase the item for the lowest price." We've seen similar technology rolled out by eBay, but it's a first for LG.

Voice AI

Piggybacking off Google Assistant, Voice AI will let users control their camera with voice commands. LG is bolstering its existing line-up of 23 commands from 2017 (features such as taking a wide-angle photo) with nine new commands. These include shooting modes such as food and panoramic photos, as well as the ability to scan a QR code or run a "shopping search" through image recognition.